Chemmani visit, regardless of Magistrate

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 March 1999, 17:54 GMT]Officials at the Attorney General's department in Colombo said today that the preliminary survey and investigation of the alleged graves at Chemmani in Jaffna would be carried out on March 5, even if it is not possible to obtain the magistrate's order for the purpose.

They said that the magistrate's order would be obtained in chambers if the courts aren't functioning on that day.

And if the Jaffna magistrate is not available to issue the order in chambers on March 5 then the investigation would be conducted on the basis of the powers granted to the Police under the Criminal Procedure Code said the AG's department today.

If it is not possible to continue the investigation and later proceed with the exhumation under the Jaffna magistrate's supervision the AG will seek to transfer the case to Vavuniya said a state prosecutor who is involved in the case.

He said that the AG will have recourse to transferring the case to another court outside Jaffna if the proceedings do not get off the ground within a certain time frame.

A team comprising senior state counsel Y.D Kothagoda, Forensic and soil experts, local and foreign journalists, independent observers and CID department officials will be flown to Jaffna on March 5.